2003 beds stronger? Really?

[GMCTRUCK]

If the 2003s are supposed to have stronger beds I'd hate to see the 01s and 02s. My 91 GMC's body and bed are much sturdier than my 03. The 03 bed is softer with the Rhino Liner than my 91 with no liner at all. The bed of the 03 is starting to look like a golf ball. Whenever I use the inner tie down the bed flexes and pops like a plastic soda bottle. I couldn't imagine using a stake pocket tie down system with the butter soft bed rails. Between the thin body, bed and cosmetic front "bumper" with painted plastic airdam I am concerned with the direction GM is headed and unless the GM loyalists take the blinders off and start complaining the next generation trucks will be made of aluminum foil.

[csimo]

Who claimed the 2003 bed is supposed to be stronger? It's not in any of the GM info. I can find, and to the contrary the sheet metal listed as "carried over" includes the bed.

[bryantch]

couldnt agree with you more...perhaps if gm eliminates other truck equipment standards (underhood light, wiring harness, full thickness steel for the body, etc.) for future models they can get back to their "roots" and build a very basic work vehicle and still charge 40+ thousand for it!

[GMCTRUCK]

If you do a search on this forum you will find it mentioned that the 03s have thicker steel in the beds. My salesman also told me this. You can take that for what its worth.

[FisHn2DMax]

GMCTruck,

The Bed Sheet metal is pretty scary isn't it! I know it's hard to believe considering how thin the 2003 metal is, but it is thicker than the previous 2002 and 2001 models! My brother has the exact same Truck as I do but in a 2002 model year. While I was handing him a small generator one day from My truck bed to his, he lightly placed one of his feet on the top of his bed rail so he could grab the generator from me. We heard a pop sound as we looked down, his foot dented the top of his bed rail. We couldn't believe it! We then looked down the top of the bed rails on both sides of his truck and you could see small indentations from people just leaning their elbows on the top of the bed cap sheet metal? We then went over to my 2003 to see if it was the same way and it wasn't. While the 2003 bed sheet metal is thin, it's made of a heavier guage metal and seems much stronger than the 2002. Right after this happened, we looked at a friends Ford SD that was parked by us. You could put all three of us big 200+ Lb guys on top of those bed rails. The sheet metal on the Ford is at least 2 guages thicker all the way around the truck! Boy is my brother PI$$ed at GM! He's always been a die-hard GM loyalist and he's the one that convinced me to buy a GM and get rid of my Ford SD for a DMax. I do love my D-max, but GM needs a wake up call !

I'm still wondering who in the He$$ at GM thought of pulling the engine hood light out of the 2003 HD trucks,and removing overhead and locking consoles among other needed things? This worries me about GM's future! It's indicative of an Engineering group that is obviously under stress to cut cost and out of touch with it's end product users expectations, nor considered the basic valued features of a HD truck costing over $40K! GM better wake up soon because Ford & Dodge appear to be adding quality, listening to their customers and providing improved HD Diesel trucks for well under $40K. Let's hope the New 2003 HD Diesel intro's by both Ford and Dodge will wake up the sleeping General!

It's not all about the horsepower anymore! it's the basics ( reliability, sheetmetal, etc) the General should be more concerned about.

G.S. :D

[hoot]

GMC uses thicker washers.

My salesman told me. ;)

[Kennedy]

I place things very gingerly into the bed on my 2002, and STILL have dents in the floor through the spray in liner!

I recently did a 4x4 launch and sent 4 sand bags sliding (again spray in liner for adhesion) into the tailgate hard enough to collapse the inner panel and bow the entire gate outward. Now keep in mind, the bags were certainly frozen and I DID launch like a maniac...

Oh yeah, watched Two Guys Garage :rolleyes: and they said a tonneau would keep sand from freezing by keeping it dry, NOT! My bags always freeze as they collect moisture. The only way not to freeze them is to keep warm or add salt :eek:

[NoMo]

Haven't had any problems with my '03 and my 285 lb. fat @$$ leaning or sitting on the bed rails. :eek: Fifth-wheel hitch, sand bags, lumber and "stuff" haven't made any noticeable dents or dings in the bed either. I'd say this truck's sheet metal is on par with the '00 and '01 Super Duty trucks that I owned previously. About the only thing I see that GM has been overly stingy with is the electrical system. Charging system and especially the wiring is much, much smaller than Ford's.

Sadly, I think GM is ahead of Ford & Dodge in where "trucks" are going in design, content and materials. Ford is on a massive cost-cutting plan and has been de-contenting all of their trucks. And don't be fooled by those shiny chrome SD bumpers... they're about as thick as a soda can. And at least the GM "bumpers" are painted to match the truck. ;)

[sdaver]

HEY GET YA PLASTIC DROP IN LINER..... THEN YOU CANT SEE THE DENTS........HEY JK A COUPLE OF 12" SOLIDS (CONCRETE BLOCKS WON'T FREEZE)(ABOUT 65LBS EACH) PUT A 2X6 ACCROSS THE BED BEHIND THE FENDER WELL AND SANDWITCH THEM BETWEEN THE FENDER WELL AND THE TAILGATE...........ITS BEEN A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY....... :D DAVE

[ 12-27-2002: Message edited by: sdaver ]</p>

[hdmax(mike)]

I read all the time about GM trucks costing well over $40 thousand, while Dodge and Ford being under. Well The way I see it is, If you are paying $40,000+, you are paying way to much.

With the way the rebates and incentives are, it is your own fault if you pay $40,000.

And one more thing. Just remember the old saying! The grass ain`t always greener on the other side. tongue.gif

I work in construction and see all kinds of truck abuse. And believe me, The Ford and Dodge owners bit(h just as much about the way those trucks are put together/built.

[FisHn2DMax]

Mike,

GM's trucks do cost a little more! Let me explain. When deciding on a new 2003 truck, I used four different internet auto pricing services including GM's. I complied a spreadsheet of all the baseprice and options

After listing the options I needed, I priced a the GM, Ford (6.0) and Dodge with similar options including diesel engines. I had both MSRP and actual invoice costs.

On a line by line Invoice cost basis GM was on average $2000 more than the other two. A high number of people buying trucks will load them up with options, this being the case the average GM SL/SLT D/A 4x4 truck will cost over $40K without rebates or incentives. The Ford and Dodge trucks with equivalent options, will average under $39K
with out rebates or incentives.

Since all three truck makers are offering rebates and finance incentives and this seems to change month to month, it comes down to invoice price. In 2003, GM does cost slightly more.

However, you're correct that if one were to buy a GM with the current GM rebates incentives, you could easily get into a fully loaded D/A 4x4 CC for under 40K. Next year who knows?

G.S. :D

[hdmax(mike)]

My out the door price was under $26,000 with trade. The trade wasn`t worth more then $10,000. and probably closer to $7,000. So I guess I got one of the best deals on the board. ;)

[johns]

I'm right around 300 # and I've sat on my side rails. Still straight and level. I can't tell you how many people have leanded on the tops of the bed rails, no problems. Heck, I've even stacked my firewood on the rail top at the campground and had no problems. I carry firewood and other misc stuff in the bed and no dentsin the bed floor. Guess I'm just lucky.

[csimo]

I think someone is feeding someone a line of BS about the sheet metal being thicker on the '03 models. I checked another source and it's listed as carryover.

Same bed... sorry.

[FisHn2DMax]

Cismo,

All I can say in response is go to your local GM dealer, find a new 2003HD and test the Bed stiffness difference for yourself, then feel free to wail on many of us "BS'ers" (LoL) on this forum that have noticed the difference in the bed stiffness on the 03's. BTW, The 03's are still not stiff enough!

Let me also clarify my own observations: The exterior body sheet metal is the same guage as previous GM model years. What appears to be different is the addition of strategic reinforcing added to the interior side of the bed caps/rails and in the bed walls up near the front where a tool box would be mounted. Standing outside the trucks bed, put your palm on the top of the bed cap and with fingers wrapped around the inside of the rail and try to flex it. You'll see and feel a notable difference between the 2003 and the earlier model years! I too think it is the exact same Bed as previous years, however, I believe GM is adding a reinforcement kit/metal strips as a revision to the main bed assembly in 2003? Also, GM did list improved Bed stiffness in it's 2003 marketing information sent out to the GM dealers. IMHO, the 2003 bed sheet metal even with it's minor reinforced areas is still not acceptable for a HD truck!

Another note of interest on the 2003 bed rails is you now have the ordering option for factory OEM Vinyl Bed caps (aka dent hiders) when ordering your new truck. I ordered a pair of 2003 OEM factory version "dent hiders" for my truck and for my brother's 2002 D/A. They really do look great and hide all the Bed cap dents. Lol....

Go have some fun rocking trucks and stomping on HD truck beds at your local GM dealer.

Happy holidays,

:eek: :eek:

[ 12-28-2002: Message edited by: FisHn2DMax ]</p>

[Big O]

johns
Since the 3500 beds are different from the 2500 beds, they may be heavier gauged, or different material. I, also, have not noticed dents in my 3500.

[Kennedy]

sdaver,

I put a plank across in front of the wheelwells, but the damage had already been done! In fairness, I was doing a 4wd power launch that had a bit of wheelspin in 4wd! This was one of those 8,000# 0-60 runs in low 6 seconds :eek:

[csimo]

fishn, you suggested: "All I can say in response is go to your local GM dealer, find a new 2003HD and test the Bed stiffness difference for yourself, then feel free to wail on many of us "BS'ers" (LoL) on this forum that have noticed the difference in the bed stiffness on the 03's. BTW, The 03's are still not stiff enough!"

I did go to the dealer today. I don't have any way to measure the thickness of the bed floor or sides, but if there's a difference neither myself or the salesman could tell. The spot welds are identical and the thickness of the two sheets welded together appear to be identical. The salesman had not heard of such a claim and we looked into his book about all the changes for 2003. Nothing about the bed is listed. Every other sheetmetal change is listed. The tail light changes are mentioned.

If I thought the bed was thicker on the 2003 models I would have traded off my truck today.

The sad fact is that the bed for the 2003 is the same thin sheet metal as the 2002's, or at least my 2002.

[ 12-28-2002: Message edited by: csimo ]</p>

[DuckhunterInTN]

Well, I was also very interested in the supposed increase in thickness for '03, as that has been one of my primary complaints about my 2000 1500. We went up to the dealership the other day and did some unscientific testing and the outer bed skin on the 03's is just as thin as the 02's. I promise. They may have added some reinforcements somewhere internally to the bed or may have thickened the interior bed wall but as far as outside thickness nothing has changed. We did the same test to my old (88-98) style truck and the sheetmetal did not flex at all, though...